Like a Diamond in the Sky
by Whatif-ifonly
Summary: While tracking an unsub through the forest, Morgan and Prentiss are caught in a sudden spring thunderstorm. While they take cover from the storm, they talk and Emily confides in Morgan about something she's been putting off telling the team. CCOAC Back to the Basics Challenge submission


Hey guys, I know - I'm supposed to be working on chapters 6 of "Though the Road was Never Smooth" and "The Road Before Us" - I'm off to work on those right now - it's been a crazy week at work. But first I wanted to get this up.

This is my 'Back to the Basic's' Challenge fic for Chit Chat on Author's Corner.

Assigned Pairing: Morgan/Prentiss  
>Assigned Prompts: walking on a trail, star gazing, getting caught in a thunderstorm<p>

Daisyangel, since these were your prompts, I hope you enjoy the story :D

Happy reading and enjoy :D

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><p><em>When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.<em> – Charles Beard

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><p>Morgan and Prentiss stealthy crept along the trail in the woods, their guns drawn in order to be prepared in case they came upon the unsub.<p>

The team had been working on a case in Kentucky where young girls were being abducted, tortured, and murdered. They'd narrowed down their suspect pool and determined it to be a prominent man in the local community. It was frightening how normal some of the unsubs the team crossed paths with seemed at first glance.

When the team and the sheriff had gone to apprehend the unsub, he'd made a run for it. He'd led them on a high speed chase to the woods. At the edge of the forest he'd ditched his car and headed into the trees in an attempt to lose them.

They'd paired off and headed into the forest. Rossi was with the Sheriff. Hotch was with a deputy. JJ and Reid were back at the SUV coordinating the search. Reid was studying the maps and guiding them through the woods based on the most probable direction the unsub had gone accounting for terrain, high ground, and ease of egresse onto a nearby road. JJ was calling in for backup and to have the surrounding area cordoned off for their manhunt.

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><p>After an hour without any sign of the unsub, they were beginning to feel that perhaps they'd chosen the wrong direction to go. Everyone remembered the case from a little over a year ago where the unsub had gotten away in the woods of the Appalachian Trail, and they certainly didn't want a repeat of that, so Morgan and Prentiss continued down the trail, shoulder to shoulder as they kept their eyes open for anything out of place when their radios crackled in their ears.<p>

"We've got him." Rossi's voice came across the radio.

No sooner did Rossi's voice come across that he and the Sheriff had managed to apprehend the killer than the overcast skies opened up and a torrential down pour began. They could barely even see as they fought their way back up the trail. Within minutes, their clothes clung to their bodies and water dripped down their faces.

"We can't be that far from that hunting cabin that we cleared." Morgan yelled to be heard above the whipping wind of the storm. There wasn't any way they were going to make it back to the rest of the team in this storm. The smart thing to do was to find shelter.

Emily nodded in agreement, knowing how dangerous a spring storm in this part of the country could be. A bolt of lightning crackled overhead instantly followed by the boom of thunder as if the storm was also agreeing with Morgan that they should take shelter as soon as possible.

They each pulled their radios from their ears, as in the electrical storm, the open mikes became a hiss of static and squealing feedback.

After several more moments of fighting their way through the driving rain pelting against their skin, the soaking wet weary agents reached the hunting cabin that they had previously cleared in their search for the killer.

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><p>Once they were sheltered from the sudden spring storm, it was much easier to hear each other.<p>

"No signal. It must be the storm." Morgan said as he held up his cell phone and then put it back in his pocket.

"We should see what's here for supplies in case we have to stay a while." Emily said as pushed her dripping hair back from her face.

Morgan nodded in agreement and then nodded to the fireplace along the far wall where firewood was stacked. "I'll get us a fire started so we can dry out a little bit." He said as he ran hand over the his forehead and the top of his head, wiping away as much of the excess water as he could so that no more water would drip in his eyes.

Emily nodded in agreement as she headed for the cabinets to see what there was stored in the one room hunting shack. "Beans, beans, and more beans. A can opener… wow somebody really likes beans" Emily muttered to herself as she went through the cabinets. She winced as she felt her water logged shoes squish with every step. She shook her head. Hopefully they wouldn't be stuck here very long with the meager contents of the cabinets.

Morgan however, was having a bit more luck. He'd managed to get a fire started and was currently feeding the fire a couple of logs to sustain it for a bit. He stood up from kneeling in front of the fireplace and took a look around at their surroundings, now that they weren't in the heat of the moment looking for a killer and it was a bit lighter in the room thanks to the flames of the fire he'd stoked into a roaring, warming blaze.

There was a bear skin rug spread out on the floor in front of the stone hearth of the fireplace. A worn, but comfortable looking old couch was centered in front of the fire place. A table and chairs were over to the side along the wall. The cabin contained the bare necessities to provide shelter from the elements, and that was about it. Then he noticed a chest at one end of the couch and bent to open it up. He smiled as he gazed down into the chest. At least they'd be able to get warm and dry. The chest contained several blankets and quilts.

He looked up from the chest just as Emily turned and headed for the fireplace. "Anything useful?" he asked as Emily followed the light of the fireplace across the one room cabin.

"Not unless you have an extreme craving for beans," Emily said with a slight chuckle. "or if you need a band-aide, there's a first aid kit."

Morgan nodded and stood up with a couple of blankets in his hands. "Well at least we can get warm and dry and give our clothes a chance to dry out." He said as he handed the blankets to Emily. "If we wrap up in these we can lay our clothes and shoes out on the hearth. They should dry out pretty quickly with the heat from the fire."

Emily nodded and dropped the blankets on the couch, only too eager to get out of her soaking wet clothes that felt more like a second skin at the moment. She shivered as she worked to untie her boots.

Morgan turned his back to Emily, giving her as much privacy as possible to undress. He too untied his boots and kicked them off. He undid the Velcro on his vest and let it drop to the floor of the cabin with a wet thud. Then he set about peeling his wet t-shirt and jeans off.

Morgan finished laying out his jeans, t-shirt, socks, and boots on the hearth. He turned to Emily. "Give me your clothes princess and I'll get them laid out for…" the smirk on his face as he teased Emily slipped as she turned to face him and her blanket slipped. The pink flesh of a scar marred the otherwise perfect flesh of her abdomen and he was reminded vividly of the events of a year ago.

Emily shifted the blanket to cover her scar and cleared her throat. "I…" she trailed off, not really knowing how to fill the uncomfortable awkward silence at Morgan seeing her scar.

Morgan shook himself out of his thoughts and turned back to the fireplace with Prentiss' clothes in hand to set out on the hearth next to his own. Then he turned back to the couch and grabbed the blankets that he'd pulled out of the chest for himself and wrapped himself up before he started to shiver from being only in his wet boxer briefs.

Morgan and Emily sat on the floor next to each other with their backs against the couch in an effort to get as close to the fire as was comfortable while the rain continued to pound down on the roof of the cabin, the wind whistled through the trees, lightening continued to flash against the dark storm sky just beyond the windows that protected them from the driving rain, and the thunder exploded, rumbled and roared as the storm raged on.

After they'd sat in silence staring into the fire, each lost in their thoughts for quite some time, Emily spoke.

"I don't suppose you happened to find a deck of playing cards?" Emily asked as she turned to look at Morgan's face just as a streak of lighting lit up the cabin as bright as day.

"'Fraid not princess" Morgan replied with a grin "You're stuck with only my charming company to entertain you."

Emily snickered. "Stop practicing your pick up lines on me."

Morgan laughed and nodded at the eased tension. "Yeah, you don't really seem like a 'baby you must be so tired because you've been running through my mind all night long' kind of girl." Morgan grinned.

Emily laughed and turned to slap Morgan on the shoulder. "I'd like to know what kind of woman you'd use that line on and have it work? That has to be one of the worst pick up lines ever."

Morgan laughed as they settled into an easy teasing discussion and enjoyed being warm and dry while the storm raged outside and the darkness of nightfall combined itself with the darkness of the raging storm.

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><p>After some time, Morgan decided that the easy conversation that just skimmed the surface wasn't enough. "So… how are you? I feel like we haven't really talked since… well since you've come back…" Morgan said as he turned to look at Emily.<p>

Emily tensed up. She'd been worried that Morgan would have a reaction to seeing her scar. It'd been a year and she still had a reaction to seeing her scar. Why wouldn't anyone else who saw it that knew what had happened to her? Thankfully she'd at least been able to have the shamrock that Doyle had branded into her chest removed so she didn't have that as a constant visible reminder of what she'd been through in the last year.

"Morgan…" Emily said turning to meet Morgan's gaze as she attempted to warn him off the subject.

"No princess. You've been different since you came back. At first I thought it was that you just needed to readjust to being back. Then I thought maybe it was because of how hard I was being on you in the recertification classes at the Academy… but something's going on with you. Talk to me." Morgan all but pleaded as he looked at the friend he was sure he'd lost forever a year ago.

Emily's eyes drifted shut for just a moment as she allowed the weight of the last year to show itself. She thought for sure that Hotch was the only one who'd figured her out. Sometimes she hated working with a team of profilers. If Morgan knew, then they all knew that something was up. She was just glad that for the most part they were giving her space until she was ready to talk about it. "I… I needed to come back. I missed you all so much… but the cases… and seeing what we see all the time… it's not helping me get over the last year."

Morgan nodded. "I'm sorry that I didn't get there soon enough to stop him Emily… "

"It wasn't your fault Morgan. I never thought it was." Emily replied "It was my fault."

"Why didn't you trust us to help? You know we would have done anything to help you."

"It was never about not trusting you. It was about keeping you safe. I knew what Doyle was capable of and I knew if I involved any of you what happened to me could have happened to you. Jeremy, Sean, Tsia… once upon a time they were my teammates too. I'd already lost them by the time I split off on my own to track down Doyle. I knew I had to end it and I knew I didn't want any of you to be hurt in the process. I would do it all over again exactly the same if it was a choice between what I went through and you all being safe or me being safe and one of you being hurt of dead."

Morgan winced at the thought of how much worse the Ian Doyle situation could have turned out. Emily really could be dead. Other members of the team could have been hurt or dead. The team could have ended up not being reinstated after bringing down Chloe Donaghy and Lachlan McDermott. The possibilities were endless for all the different ways that things could have gone badly for the team.

Emily took a deep breath. She'd shared with Hotch when she was having a bad day… but there were thoughts that she hadn't even shared with Hotch. "I… I've been thinking about leaving the BAU." She murmured in a soft unsure voice as she uttered the thought out loud for the first time ever.

Morgan turned his head to fix a sad gaze on Emily. He took in the strong willed agent before him and as he looked, really looked, past the mask she'd been wearing for the team's benefit for the last six months; he saw just how weary she was. He saw the toll that the events of a year ago had taken on her. He saw the strain that the effort of attempting to pass herself off as the same woman as she was prior to the events of last March was placing on her.

"Darkness can't drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate can't drive out hate; only love can do that." Morgan said as he remembered one of his mother's favorite quotes. It certainly seemed a fitting thing to say to the struggling, floundering friend who sat next to him.

"Martin Luther King, Jr.?" Emily asked as she looked at Morgan, seeing that he understood exactly what she was going through.

Morgan nodded. "Whatever you decide Emily, I'm behind you one hundred percent. If you decide to stay, you know we'll all be here for you… and even if you decide to go, we're still here for you. You leaving the team will be sad and it will hurt, but your being happy is more important than keeping the team together. I'll always respect you and value your friendship. Just promise me one thing princess…"

Emily gave Morgan a shaky smile. "What's that?"

"Don't go like Gideon did – I don't think any of us could handle if you left without saying goodbye and didn't stay in touch." Morgan said as he remembered how hard it had been on the team when first Elle and then Gideon had left without so much as a goodbye.

Emily turned and looked at Morgan with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" Morgan asked.

"I said I was thinking about leaving the BAU, not the country. If I decide to leave… and that's if, I still haven't made up my mind… but if I do decide to leave, I'll still be in the area. I have some options, but I haven't made a decision yet."

Morgan nodded his head, as he studied Emily. He wasn't going to call her out on it, but he could tell she'd reached a decision. She was just trying to come to terms with it before she told the rest of the team. She wouldn't bring it up if it weren't the case. She was leaving the team. The only question would be which Agency or organization was lucky enough to have her join their forces. "Like I said, whatever you decide, I'm behind you one hundred percent. And if you decide to go do something else, whatever it is, they'll be lucky to have you."

Emily smiled sadly at Morgan and nodded. Then she turned to look out the window. "Hey it looks like the storm is over." Sure enough the pounding of the rain had stopped while they'd been talking. She stood up and went to peek out the door of the cabin and was greeted with the clear pitch black star filled sky.

Morgan's cell phone rang just as he scooted forward to check on their clothes. "Morgan" he answered as he felt their clothes. "Hey Hotch…. Yeah we were able to get to shelter… a hunting cabin…. Yeah we were able to dry off a bit at least…and at least we didn't have the prisoner with us like Rossi. Alright… we'll meet you back at the road. It should take us about half an hour or so."

Emily walked back across the cabin as Morgan hung up the phone. "So?"

"Hotch and the Deputy were able to take cover in a cave. Rossi and the Sheriff kept going since they had the killer with them. They made it back to the SUVs and patrol cars, but then they had to wait out the storm there since they couldn't see well enough to drive and they were worried part of the road might be washed out."

Emily's face screwed up in sympathy for their friends and coworkers. "That sucks. Looks like Reid and JJ probably came out the best since they were by the SUVs when the storm started."

Morgan nodded as he pulled his fire warmed clothes back on. "Yeah, but can you imagine how nerve wracking it had to be for them… a storm… the radios and cell phones out due to the storm… and Rossi and the Sheriff out there with the unsub, even if he was handcuffed... and not being able to reach any of us to make sure we were all okay? Not exactly what I call a good time."

Emily winced as she slipped her dry sock covered foot into her still soggy boots. "At least they had the comfort of a nice dry SUV."

Morgan shrugged as he stood and picked up the folded blankets and put them back in the chest. "I'd say we did pretty okay ourselves princess."

Emily turned and looked at the dying embers of the fire and nodded. Then she and Morgan worked together to put out the fire.

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><p>"Hey Morgan?" Emily asked as they made their way back up the muddy trail to join up with the team at the SUVs<p>

"Yeah?" Morgan asked as he turned to look at Emily.

"Can you not tell anyone about me possibly leaving the team?"

Morgan nodded and reached out wrapping his arm around Emily's shoulders. "You know wherever you end up, they're going to be incredibly lucky to have you. You're going to make a big impact wherever you go."

"How did you…"

"Because I know you princess." Morgan said with a smile.

"How do you know I'll have a big impact?"

"Because it's who you are. It's what you do." Morgan said. "I know that the rest of the team would tell you the same thing if they knew… I am better for having known you and worked with you Emily Prentiss. You put your whole heart into everything you do. And heaven help the man or woman who thinks they can get in your way and stop you from getting what you want." He paused for a moment. "I'm going to miss working with you… you've always had my back Emily. I hope you know that if there's anything you ever need, all you have to do is ask."

Emily turned to look at Morgan in contemplation, glad that she'd found the courage to voice her thoughts of the last few months out loud to him. She'd always found comfort in Morgan's big brother teasing manner and the protective stance he took with the rest of the team. She could relate to it, as she too had always felt the need to protect the team above all else.

"And your secrets safe with me until you're ready to tell everyone else. Scouts honor." Morgan said holding up his right hand.

Emily snorted. "You weren't even a scout."

"You're right I wasn't." Morgan said with a tip of his head. "So, since I was deprived of learning about the stars as a city kid, how about you tell me about some of these stars while we hike back to join the team." He said as he pointed up at the brightly shining stars overhead. He listened to Emily talk about the constellations while he thought about Emily and everything he'd learned from their friendship. It was easy to be a good person and do the right thing when things were easy, but you really learned about a person and what they stood for when the chips were down, when there was a hard decision to made, when no matter what something stood to be lost. It was in those moments that you found out who a person really was. He was glad to know that in those moments, Emily Prentiss had proven that she really was the person he'd always thought her to be, a person who sparkled brightly like a star in the night sky leading the way for others to follow her example.

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><p><em>Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that frightens us.<em>

_We ask ourselves 'who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us._

_It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same._

_As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. – _Marianne Williamson


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